i was browsing web, came across this interview from 2003, it answers alot of interesting questions, and has funny bits -
MR: Do you have any religious or spiritual beliefs?
MA: No. Im actually baptized, and I was confirmed too, but that was one of the things you did, everybody did it. But I didnt have any beliefs. We went on this trip up to the North in Sweden, for confirmation, like this camp. We stayed there for a week and we read the Bible and we had to do our own prayers. But I brought my death metal album, I wasnt into that whole thing at all.
MR: Do you have any funny stories you can tell about your band mates?
MA: (points at Peter) He got a bottle in his head last night. (laughs) It was funny. We got a trash bin thrown on stage
you sadistic fucker Mike!
Mikael Akerfeldt - OPETH
Interviewed By: Stacey Rosenbaum - 05/10/03
Photo by: Rosenbaum Photography. Go to the Gallery to see live photos of the concert in Houston, TX on May 10, 2003.
The Refuge was honored to sit down and talk with Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth before their sound check on May 10, 2003 in Houston, Texas. Not quite two weeks into their three-week US tour, we wanted to catch up on how they were holding up. Upon arriving on their tour bus, we catch Mikael making a pot of coffee, and the remaining three sleeping in the back. We sit down to talk.
Many of our questions were derived from members of the Refuge, as a lot of us are big Opeth fans.
MR: How are yall holding up on the tour, is it going well or has there been any complications?
MA: No, its been pretty good so far. The only problems weve run into is like maybe the venue is dirty, or the wedges on the stage are shitty. The crowds have been good so far. We enjoy the shows. People have been pretty good. We have this bus for ourselves now with the crew. Its nice, it gives us some privacy, where before we always shared with other bands. Its all good.
MR: Okay. Do yall do anything to relax on tour?
MA: No. We just hang around all day waiting for the sound check, then wait for the gig. All the time in between is pretty much relaxation time.
MR: Like sitting around watching t.v?
MA: Yeah, but its not real, you dont feel relaxed.
MR: I know Lacuna Coil is playing with yall, are there any other bands?
MA: There is actually another band called Yakuza. Theyve done most of the gigs weve done so far. Then we have another band called Beyond The Embrace.
MR: Do yall all get along?
MA: Yeah, we dont see each other much, maybe hang out at the venue, or grab a beer after a show. We dont share a bus, we havent gotten to know them. But theyre all cool guys and girl.
MR: Okay. We dont really get to see yall much here in the US, which we hope changes.
MA: Well, we play here more than anywhere in the world, especially this year. We have a total of four tours. This is our second tour, then we come back in July, then we have another one in September.
MR: Do yall like touring in the US?
MA: Yeah.
MR: If you could tour with any band in this genre of music, who would it be?
MA: Well, our top band to tour with, because we think touring with them would be great for our image because they are huge, would be Tool. But we would probably never get that gig, but it would be a good thing for us. I think their fans might like us. I think were the kind of music they like. And were massive Tool fans. Metallica would be cool too.
MR: Yeah. I wish yall were on the Summer Sanitarium tour with them.
MA: Yeah. Were actually playing one gig with them. Its at a festival.
MR: How did you get involved in music, and how old were you when you decided you wanted to do this?
MA: Pretty young I guess. I was into sports when I was younger. Soccer and (inaudible), but Ive always been into heavy metal. I started playing a little bit of guitar when I was young, like 5 or 6, I got my first acoustic. But I didnt really start until I got a high end guitar because it didnt mean shit to me, because I was into heavy metal. I didnt start for real until I got my first electric guitar. I was about 10 or 11.
MR: Who were your biggest influences?
MA: All sorts of music. All the old metal bands from the 70s, 80s. As well as the whole death metal scene in the late 80s. Black metal bands, all the 60s and 70s psychedelia, progressive rock, modern rock, soul. Anything, we listen to different types of music. If I were to name off bands, probably Morbid Angel, Judas Priest, Zeppelin. All the rock bands youve probably never heard of. Im a big collector, I collect vinyl from the era.
MR: What inspires yall to be so unique and challenge clichés within the music scene?
MA: It wasnt anything that triggered like okay, we have to be different. It was just a combination of all the influences that made us sound the way we do. I guess, you know, especially when I got into the whole classic rock thing. A way to rhyme music that had the long songs with a lot of dynamics going on. We obviously have the death/heavy metal background. Combining the modern things with extreme things. And from there its just been developing. Trying to keep up with what weve done in the past. But its not like were pushing ourselves hard, we have to change. I write the music at home, like I always have. It happens b accident.
MR: Yall have had several different members since Opeth began. Were your parting of ways amicable, and do yall still stay in contact with prior members?
MA: No, its hard actually. Even though its a discrepancy parting with members, theres a little bit of bad blood I guess. Not so much from our part, if I should fire someone I cant be angry with them. Our first drummer was a childhood friend of mine, he quit the band. Ever since then weve lost contact. I dont meet him that much anymore. I invited him to my wedding, I hope he will come there ya know? Its pretty hard. Its not like were enemies or anything, were still friends. But at the time there was probably a little friction.
MR: Is it difficult to play the lead guitar and sing?
MA: Sometimes. Some songs I regret writing because its so hard. But practicing I can pretty much do anything weve done.
MR: Do you or Peter come up with the riffs?
MA: I write all the music. But me and Peter wrote together for the first two albums. Mainly because we had two harmonies, two guitars playing totally differently, trading one riff or whatever so it was easier.
MR: So its all you, not a group effort, you do all the music and lyrics??
MA: Yeah, I do the music and the lyrics. But Im not like this is your part, this is your part, this is your part. They all get to play, or change, especially the drummer, Martin Lopez. If I had a drum beat on a demo, if it was iffy Id be like do whatever you want. As far as the main song, the arrangement, all the lyrics, obviously all involve the production man.
MR: How do you interchange your growling and singing and not miss a single note?
MA: I do miss. I fuck up a lot.
MR: I guess people dont hear it.
MA: Its weird. We played in Dallas the other day and I was choked for a long time, we hadnt played until that. I sang really okay actually at that show, but the place was really really bad. And afterwards the guys from Lacuna Coil came up and told us Strapping Young Lads and Meshugga, theyre two of my favorite bands and tonight you guys kicked their asses. Were like what are you talking about, we stunk?. But I think for me a live gig is not about, does not have to be perfect. It comes from some kind of energy, or, you know, we try to enjoy ourselves and hope that the crowd sees that.
MR: Do your vocal chords get fatigued?
MA: Yeah, sometimes. But no so much actually from the singing and screaming. When youre on the tour you have a couple of beers, smoke a lot, stuff like that. You wake up with that (clears throat), but its not so bad. I lost my voice once in my whole career, on the road. We did an instrumental set once, without any vocals, we had the crowd singing all the songs.
MR: Oh how neat!
MA: It was pretty cool actually, but it was weird. Something you do once and never again. But Im trying not to drink as much. Alcohol is the worst thing for my voice.
MR: Do you do any training or preparation for your voice?
MA: No. I probably should, but I dont.
MR: So your voice is really something you were just gifted with.
MA: (laughter) If you want to put it that way. I just sing. I dont consider myself as a fantastic singer, I just do my job. And its for Opeth, the band.
MR: Have yall had any extensive training on your instruments or are you pretty much self-taught?
MA: Yeah. I had one guitar lesson actually. But that guitar player just wanted to show off. Peter I think has taken a few guitar lessons like years back before the band. Martin might have taken a few drum lessons, but hes a teacher. He teaches kids.
MR: So, no classical guitar background?
MA: No, I was just into that stuff. Im into guitar, regardless if youre playing metal, or blues, jazz or classical. I love everything. I havent taken any lessons. I just listen to other bands and see how theyre playing.
MR: What was it like recording Damnation, that was just like completely different than everything else? (I love it by the way).
MA: Thanks. (laughter) The whole recording process of both albums, Deliverance and Damnation, was a bit complicated actually. We had so many problems. We put ourselves in the position where we slept on the floor in the studio for the whole duration of the recording. It was pretty bad, the whole recording. But as for Damnation, getting together to record the actual music was nice. But that album is pretty much a result of those influences I mentioned. I personally had my mind set on how it should sound. It was nice seeing it all come together to sound like a record from the 70s.
MR: What inspires you to write your poetic lyrics? There are so many bands out there who stick with the hate/kill/destroy mentality. What inspires you to stay away from that?
MA: I dont have any lyrical preference. I dont read books. They dont have anything to do with my lyrics. I pretty much read other bands lyrics and get inspiration from there. I like nice work. I have a dictionary, checking out some words. Being Swedish theres a lot of words that youve never heard. Just having single words can create an entire verse. I can get inspired from that single word and write something around that word. The last couple of albums I didnt have a dictionary, I just wrote something like before, I had to be more personal because I couldnt hide behind those words. I didnt have a concept or anything, so I was just writing about something that happened to me.
MR: A lot of times the singing or lyrics of many bands seem to be crunched the fit the confines of their music. But yalls lyrics and vocals seem to just mesh and flow really well together. How do yall achieve that?
MA: Its all a matter of taste. Im not saying that my style is the best in the world, but I try to write everything, that has anything remotely to do with this band (inaudible). And the same thing goes with the lyrics and how we use the vocals in the songs. Like you have a mellow part come in, theres the mellow vocals, or just turn around and have a real aggressive riff that has clean nice mellow lines over that. With the long songs, I want to keep it interesting.
MR: A person on our message board says You are not a run of the mill metal band, you create true art. How long does it take yall to do it? Does it take a long time to .
MA: to write the music? Yeah, it takes a long time actually. It does. Its hard to say exactly how long it takes, because when Im home, I play guitar every day. If I come up with something, I record it. And thats the problem, it can take years. The two latest albums I started writing just before we went on the Blackwater Park tour here in the US in 2001. I think in the Springtime I started writing some of the songs off that, we recorded the albums in the Summer of 2002.
MR: How long did it take yall to record Orchid?
MA: Twelve days. We recorded in only twelve days.
MR: Did it take a while to get all the music and lyrics ready for it?
MA: Wed been around for such a long time before that. That was recorded in 1994. Weve been a band since 1990. And those four years in between, those songs were created, all the songs. A lot of the songs off the Morningrise album were also done during that period of time. When we went into the studio, we were ready! We had been rehearsing six times a week for all those years. When we recorded Orchid, it was like this song-blah blah blah, we mixed it up you know. Which was actually, to be quite honest, was a bit boring to get the final album. You know, youve got your first album, and you know exactly whats on there. Everything was exactly as it sounded in rehearsal. But I think its a good debut album. But now we recorded a totally different one weve never rehearsed, never.
MR: You did the piano on Orchid didnt you?
MA: No, that was our drummer, the one who quit the band.
MR: Silhouette is my favorite song.
MA: Yeah, its good. Hes good. I remember because he was great at the piano, but he was mostly playing boogie woogie. He said Mike, Ive got this song that maybe would be good. He played it and I was like (opens eyes wide). Ive never seen him play like that! And he actually did another that was supposed to be on the Morningrise album, but didnt make it. It was a piano song and I was playing acoustic guitar with it. But it never got recorded.
MR: Wow, that would have been nice!
MA: It would have been fantastic!
MR: So theres never really any disagreement on the stuff that you write with the other band members?
MA: No, not really. I love the fact that we dont rehearse, no one knows the tracks. (inaudible). Something out of the ordinary, we may do something else with vocals or lead guitars or something.
Peter Lindgren emerges from the back of the bus, but does not join us. He goes about getting coffee and breakfast/lunch.
MR: Yall have changed labels a couple of times. Is your current label a keeper?
MA: Yeah. I think so. They are really good, really supportive. I also like the fact that their roster, no two bands sound the same. Theyve got their nu metal band, boy band, theyve got their glam rock band, and theyve got us. All the bands are different on their label. All of them, even though I dont like any of those bands, I still think that within their theme, they are quality. Theyre doing a really good job, not only for us, but for all the bands on that label. Were happy with them.
MR: The big thing for people to do these days is downloading music off of the internet. How do yall feel about that?
MA: Id much prefer them to buy the album of course. But I think if youre a band thats not huge, I think it might be a good thing. But I will never understand. Im old school, I go out and buy my records. Never in my life have I downloaded a track. I want the whole package. I dont want a shitty mp3 file with clicks. Even though I might get one good track off a cd, Im still happy. Its not a great loss if you spend a few dollars on a cd and its shit.
MR: Has your involvement in Bloodbath affected Opeth at all?
MA: No. My involvement in Bloodbath was pretty much non-existent. The first cd we did, I was there, we partied and did those songs. But for the recording I wasnt involved. We did the songwriting process only because I was writing for Opeth. The only thing I did on the album as far as singing was one lyric. I wrote one lyric, I went down one day and did the vocals, six hours, and went back home. They wanted me to sing and I love the album. But Bloodbath is pretty much a rip-off of the Swedish/Stockholm scene of the late 80s. But its a fantastic album.
MR: Yall seem to present yourselves as very intelligent, artistic, very dedicated to your music and performance, without the media hype. A lot of bands love that, the media. Has this been purposeful for yall?
MA: Not at all. Ive never seen the reason why you should concentrate on anything else other than the music. With Opeth its always about the music. We dont call up magazines. Whatever hype or whatevers going on about us is entirely because the media wants to write about us. Because of our music.
MR: Do yall have groupies?
MA: Yeah I guess we do, but Im getting married and I dont look for groupies. Weve all got girlfriends. If you want it, its probably there.
MR: Do yall like that?
MA: Theres nothing wrong when chicks come up to me and say they like me, but I dont understand the whole concept of needing to fuck someone in a band.
MR: How do you feel about love in general?
MA: Love in general?! Its one of my main resources of inspiration. It was pretty easy for me to call it love when I was in over my head. They always broke up with me though. But now its, my girlfriend Ive got now, weve been together for five years, and its a fantastic relationship. Ive never had it like this where you actually know you want to be with someone for the rest of your life. To find that in life, I dont need groupies.
MR: Yeah. Thats hard to find anyway when youre in that position of fame too.
MA: Yeah. Were all kind of calm, mellow guys. Were not fuckers really. All of us are in relationships and not looking to ruin anything.
MR: Do you have any religious or spiritual beliefs?
MA: No. Im actually baptized, and I was confirmed too, but that was one of the things you did, everybody did it. But I didnt have any beliefs. We went on this trip up to the North in Sweden, for confirmation, like this camp. We stayed there for a week and we read the Bible and we had to do our own prayers. But I brought my death metal album, I wasnt into that whole thing at all. It was just pretty much a theme because once you got in the front, you got a lot of gifts. My sister did it, I saw she got money and I was like yeah you know. All my friends did it, so I went there. But Ive never believed in anything, any religion at all.
MR: Do you have any comments on the political state of the world right now?
MA: Uhm, well, with all the wars, the war thats been going on here ..obviously Im trying to keep a low profile you understand. (inaudible) is wrong.
MR: Do you have any funny stories you can tell about your band mates?
MA: (points at Peter) He got a bottle in his head last night. (laughs) It was funny. We got a trash bin thrown on stage. But any band members, I cant really remember. There was something really bad that happened to our bass player, but I dont think hed ever forgive me if I tell it. I cant think of anything else right now.
MR: Out of all of your currently released records, which one is your favorite? And which one did you enjoy working on the most?
MA: The first one [Orchid] was enjoyable to record because it was short time, we were hungry, it was fun being in the recording studio for the first time. Damnation is probably my favorite record. My Arms Your Hearse is also another favorite of mine. Blackwater Park was fairly enjoyable to record. Deliverance has the most bad memories. I think all of them are good records. As far as favorites go, Damnation. My Arms Your Hearse, maybe Still Life?
MR: We know you just released Deliverance and Damnation, and we know we may be asking a hell of a lot right now, but how long until the next masterpiece?
MA: I think it might take a long time. Well be touring the whole year, and into the next year too. After this were going to have a long break, you know, do something else for a while. I cant see anything else coming until, maybe recording in 2004. No, 2005!
MR: What might we expect?
MA: I havent written anything.
MR: Do you want it to be like your previous stuff, or something kind of close to Damnation?
MA: I dont think it will be another record like Damnation, but I just havent written anything at all, so its hard to say.
MR: So were just all going to have to wait and be surprised.
MA: Yeah.
MR: Last question! Is there any message you would like to give all current Opeth fans, and new fans?
MA: For the fans that are already into Opeth, wed obviously like to thank [them] for their support for the band. I hope theyll stick around and I hope they find whatever we do in the future, they find it interesting. And we promise that well continue doing high quality music. Just hoping theyll stick around and wait for our next album whenever it is out. Come check us out on tour. Come see the band in July for the Damnation Tour. Since were not playing Damnation tonight. Well be doing that tour in July with Porcupine Tree here in the US to promote Damnation. Then we have another, longer tour in September. For the new fans - I dont know what to say. If youve just gotten into Opeth, you have a lot of stuff to check out. Seven albums. Heres hoping that the ones that get into the new album go back and check out the old ones and see where were coming from. Hopefully they will like that too.
MR: Thank you so much for talking to us. I cant wait for the show tonight!
MA: Thank you. (grins and shakes my hand)
There are no words to express how much The Metal Refuge appreciates the opportunity that Mikael, Opeth, their management and publicity people have honored us with. We also want to thank the die hard Opeth fans at the Refuge for contributing to this interview with suggestions for questions. The Refuge will continue to spread the word about Opeth in every way we can. ~AS
MR: Do you have any religious or spiritual beliefs?
MA: No. Im actually baptized, and I was confirmed too, but that was one of the things you did, everybody did it. But I didnt have any beliefs. We went on this trip up to the North in Sweden, for confirmation, like this camp. We stayed there for a week and we read the Bible and we had to do our own prayers. But I brought my death metal album, I wasnt into that whole thing at all.
MR: Do you have any funny stories you can tell about your band mates?
MA: (points at Peter) He got a bottle in his head last night. (laughs) It was funny. We got a trash bin thrown on stage
you sadistic fucker Mike!Mikael Akerfeldt - OPETH
Interviewed By: Stacey Rosenbaum - 05/10/03
Photo by: Rosenbaum Photography. Go to the Gallery to see live photos of the concert in Houston, TX on May 10, 2003.
The Refuge was honored to sit down and talk with Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth before their sound check on May 10, 2003 in Houston, Texas. Not quite two weeks into their three-week US tour, we wanted to catch up on how they were holding up. Upon arriving on their tour bus, we catch Mikael making a pot of coffee, and the remaining three sleeping in the back. We sit down to talk.
Many of our questions were derived from members of the Refuge, as a lot of us are big Opeth fans.
MR: How are yall holding up on the tour, is it going well or has there been any complications?
MA: No, its been pretty good so far. The only problems weve run into is like maybe the venue is dirty, or the wedges on the stage are shitty. The crowds have been good so far. We enjoy the shows. People have been pretty good. We have this bus for ourselves now with the crew. Its nice, it gives us some privacy, where before we always shared with other bands. Its all good.
MR: Okay. Do yall do anything to relax on tour?
MA: No. We just hang around all day waiting for the sound check, then wait for the gig. All the time in between is pretty much relaxation time.
MR: Like sitting around watching t.v?
MA: Yeah, but its not real, you dont feel relaxed.
MR: I know Lacuna Coil is playing with yall, are there any other bands?
MA: There is actually another band called Yakuza. Theyve done most of the gigs weve done so far. Then we have another band called Beyond The Embrace.
MR: Do yall all get along?
MA: Yeah, we dont see each other much, maybe hang out at the venue, or grab a beer after a show. We dont share a bus, we havent gotten to know them. But theyre all cool guys and girl.
MR: Okay. We dont really get to see yall much here in the US, which we hope changes.
MA: Well, we play here more than anywhere in the world, especially this year. We have a total of four tours. This is our second tour, then we come back in July, then we have another one in September.
MR: Do yall like touring in the US?
MA: Yeah.
MR: If you could tour with any band in this genre of music, who would it be?
MA: Well, our top band to tour with, because we think touring with them would be great for our image because they are huge, would be Tool. But we would probably never get that gig, but it would be a good thing for us. I think their fans might like us. I think were the kind of music they like. And were massive Tool fans. Metallica would be cool too.
MR: Yeah. I wish yall were on the Summer Sanitarium tour with them.
MA: Yeah. Were actually playing one gig with them. Its at a festival.
MR: How did you get involved in music, and how old were you when you decided you wanted to do this?
MA: Pretty young I guess. I was into sports when I was younger. Soccer and (inaudible), but Ive always been into heavy metal. I started playing a little bit of guitar when I was young, like 5 or 6, I got my first acoustic. But I didnt really start until I got a high end guitar because it didnt mean shit to me, because I was into heavy metal. I didnt start for real until I got my first electric guitar. I was about 10 or 11.
MR: Who were your biggest influences?
MA: All sorts of music. All the old metal bands from the 70s, 80s. As well as the whole death metal scene in the late 80s. Black metal bands, all the 60s and 70s psychedelia, progressive rock, modern rock, soul. Anything, we listen to different types of music. If I were to name off bands, probably Morbid Angel, Judas Priest, Zeppelin. All the rock bands youve probably never heard of. Im a big collector, I collect vinyl from the era.
MR: What inspires yall to be so unique and challenge clichés within the music scene?
MA: It wasnt anything that triggered like okay, we have to be different. It was just a combination of all the influences that made us sound the way we do. I guess, you know, especially when I got into the whole classic rock thing. A way to rhyme music that had the long songs with a lot of dynamics going on. We obviously have the death/heavy metal background. Combining the modern things with extreme things. And from there its just been developing. Trying to keep up with what weve done in the past. But its not like were pushing ourselves hard, we have to change. I write the music at home, like I always have. It happens b accident.
MR: Yall have had several different members since Opeth began. Were your parting of ways amicable, and do yall still stay in contact with prior members?
MA: No, its hard actually. Even though its a discrepancy parting with members, theres a little bit of bad blood I guess. Not so much from our part, if I should fire someone I cant be angry with them. Our first drummer was a childhood friend of mine, he quit the band. Ever since then weve lost contact. I dont meet him that much anymore. I invited him to my wedding, I hope he will come there ya know? Its pretty hard. Its not like were enemies or anything, were still friends. But at the time there was probably a little friction.
MR: Is it difficult to play the lead guitar and sing?
MA: Sometimes. Some songs I regret writing because its so hard. But practicing I can pretty much do anything weve done.
MR: Do you or Peter come up with the riffs?
MA: I write all the music. But me and Peter wrote together for the first two albums. Mainly because we had two harmonies, two guitars playing totally differently, trading one riff or whatever so it was easier.
MR: So its all you, not a group effort, you do all the music and lyrics??
MA: Yeah, I do the music and the lyrics. But Im not like this is your part, this is your part, this is your part. They all get to play, or change, especially the drummer, Martin Lopez. If I had a drum beat on a demo, if it was iffy Id be like do whatever you want. As far as the main song, the arrangement, all the lyrics, obviously all involve the production man.
MR: How do you interchange your growling and singing and not miss a single note?
MA: I do miss. I fuck up a lot.
MR: I guess people dont hear it.
MA: Its weird. We played in Dallas the other day and I was choked for a long time, we hadnt played until that. I sang really okay actually at that show, but the place was really really bad. And afterwards the guys from Lacuna Coil came up and told us Strapping Young Lads and Meshugga, theyre two of my favorite bands and tonight you guys kicked their asses. Were like what are you talking about, we stunk?. But I think for me a live gig is not about, does not have to be perfect. It comes from some kind of energy, or, you know, we try to enjoy ourselves and hope that the crowd sees that.
MR: Do your vocal chords get fatigued?
MA: Yeah, sometimes. But no so much actually from the singing and screaming. When youre on the tour you have a couple of beers, smoke a lot, stuff like that. You wake up with that (clears throat), but its not so bad. I lost my voice once in my whole career, on the road. We did an instrumental set once, without any vocals, we had the crowd singing all the songs.
MR: Oh how neat!
MA: It was pretty cool actually, but it was weird. Something you do once and never again. But Im trying not to drink as much. Alcohol is the worst thing for my voice.
MR: Do you do any training or preparation for your voice?
MA: No. I probably should, but I dont.
MR: So your voice is really something you were just gifted with.
MA: (laughter) If you want to put it that way. I just sing. I dont consider myself as a fantastic singer, I just do my job. And its for Opeth, the band.
MR: Have yall had any extensive training on your instruments or are you pretty much self-taught?
MA: Yeah. I had one guitar lesson actually. But that guitar player just wanted to show off. Peter I think has taken a few guitar lessons like years back before the band. Martin might have taken a few drum lessons, but hes a teacher. He teaches kids.
MR: So, no classical guitar background?
MA: No, I was just into that stuff. Im into guitar, regardless if youre playing metal, or blues, jazz or classical. I love everything. I havent taken any lessons. I just listen to other bands and see how theyre playing.
MR: What was it like recording Damnation, that was just like completely different than everything else? (I love it by the way).
MA: Thanks. (laughter) The whole recording process of both albums, Deliverance and Damnation, was a bit complicated actually. We had so many problems. We put ourselves in the position where we slept on the floor in the studio for the whole duration of the recording. It was pretty bad, the whole recording. But as for Damnation, getting together to record the actual music was nice. But that album is pretty much a result of those influences I mentioned. I personally had my mind set on how it should sound. It was nice seeing it all come together to sound like a record from the 70s.
MR: What inspires you to write your poetic lyrics? There are so many bands out there who stick with the hate/kill/destroy mentality. What inspires you to stay away from that?
MA: I dont have any lyrical preference. I dont read books. They dont have anything to do with my lyrics. I pretty much read other bands lyrics and get inspiration from there. I like nice work. I have a dictionary, checking out some words. Being Swedish theres a lot of words that youve never heard. Just having single words can create an entire verse. I can get inspired from that single word and write something around that word. The last couple of albums I didnt have a dictionary, I just wrote something like before, I had to be more personal because I couldnt hide behind those words. I didnt have a concept or anything, so I was just writing about something that happened to me.
MR: A lot of times the singing or lyrics of many bands seem to be crunched the fit the confines of their music. But yalls lyrics and vocals seem to just mesh and flow really well together. How do yall achieve that?
MA: Its all a matter of taste. Im not saying that my style is the best in the world, but I try to write everything, that has anything remotely to do with this band (inaudible). And the same thing goes with the lyrics and how we use the vocals in the songs. Like you have a mellow part come in, theres the mellow vocals, or just turn around and have a real aggressive riff that has clean nice mellow lines over that. With the long songs, I want to keep it interesting.
MR: A person on our message board says You are not a run of the mill metal band, you create true art. How long does it take yall to do it? Does it take a long time to .
MA: to write the music? Yeah, it takes a long time actually. It does. Its hard to say exactly how long it takes, because when Im home, I play guitar every day. If I come up with something, I record it. And thats the problem, it can take years. The two latest albums I started writing just before we went on the Blackwater Park tour here in the US in 2001. I think in the Springtime I started writing some of the songs off that, we recorded the albums in the Summer of 2002.
MR: How long did it take yall to record Orchid?
MA: Twelve days. We recorded in only twelve days.
MR: Did it take a while to get all the music and lyrics ready for it?
MA: Wed been around for such a long time before that. That was recorded in 1994. Weve been a band since 1990. And those four years in between, those songs were created, all the songs. A lot of the songs off the Morningrise album were also done during that period of time. When we went into the studio, we were ready! We had been rehearsing six times a week for all those years. When we recorded Orchid, it was like this song-blah blah blah, we mixed it up you know. Which was actually, to be quite honest, was a bit boring to get the final album. You know, youve got your first album, and you know exactly whats on there. Everything was exactly as it sounded in rehearsal. But I think its a good debut album. But now we recorded a totally different one weve never rehearsed, never.
MR: You did the piano on Orchid didnt you?
MA: No, that was our drummer, the one who quit the band.
MR: Silhouette is my favorite song.
MA: Yeah, its good. Hes good. I remember because he was great at the piano, but he was mostly playing boogie woogie. He said Mike, Ive got this song that maybe would be good. He played it and I was like (opens eyes wide). Ive never seen him play like that! And he actually did another that was supposed to be on the Morningrise album, but didnt make it. It was a piano song and I was playing acoustic guitar with it. But it never got recorded.
MR: Wow, that would have been nice!
MA: It would have been fantastic!
MR: So theres never really any disagreement on the stuff that you write with the other band members?
MA: No, not really. I love the fact that we dont rehearse, no one knows the tracks. (inaudible). Something out of the ordinary, we may do something else with vocals or lead guitars or something.
Peter Lindgren emerges from the back of the bus, but does not join us. He goes about getting coffee and breakfast/lunch.
MR: Yall have changed labels a couple of times. Is your current label a keeper?
MA: Yeah. I think so. They are really good, really supportive. I also like the fact that their roster, no two bands sound the same. Theyve got their nu metal band, boy band, theyve got their glam rock band, and theyve got us. All the bands are different on their label. All of them, even though I dont like any of those bands, I still think that within their theme, they are quality. Theyre doing a really good job, not only for us, but for all the bands on that label. Were happy with them.
MR: The big thing for people to do these days is downloading music off of the internet. How do yall feel about that?
MA: Id much prefer them to buy the album of course. But I think if youre a band thats not huge, I think it might be a good thing. But I will never understand. Im old school, I go out and buy my records. Never in my life have I downloaded a track. I want the whole package. I dont want a shitty mp3 file with clicks. Even though I might get one good track off a cd, Im still happy. Its not a great loss if you spend a few dollars on a cd and its shit.
MR: Has your involvement in Bloodbath affected Opeth at all?
MA: No. My involvement in Bloodbath was pretty much non-existent. The first cd we did, I was there, we partied and did those songs. But for the recording I wasnt involved. We did the songwriting process only because I was writing for Opeth. The only thing I did on the album as far as singing was one lyric. I wrote one lyric, I went down one day and did the vocals, six hours, and went back home. They wanted me to sing and I love the album. But Bloodbath is pretty much a rip-off of the Swedish/Stockholm scene of the late 80s. But its a fantastic album.
MR: Yall seem to present yourselves as very intelligent, artistic, very dedicated to your music and performance, without the media hype. A lot of bands love that, the media. Has this been purposeful for yall?
MA: Not at all. Ive never seen the reason why you should concentrate on anything else other than the music. With Opeth its always about the music. We dont call up magazines. Whatever hype or whatevers going on about us is entirely because the media wants to write about us. Because of our music.
MR: Do yall have groupies?
MA: Yeah I guess we do, but Im getting married and I dont look for groupies. Weve all got girlfriends. If you want it, its probably there.
MR: Do yall like that?
MA: Theres nothing wrong when chicks come up to me and say they like me, but I dont understand the whole concept of needing to fuck someone in a band.
MR: How do you feel about love in general?
MA: Love in general?! Its one of my main resources of inspiration. It was pretty easy for me to call it love when I was in over my head. They always broke up with me though. But now its, my girlfriend Ive got now, weve been together for five years, and its a fantastic relationship. Ive never had it like this where you actually know you want to be with someone for the rest of your life. To find that in life, I dont need groupies.
MR: Yeah. Thats hard to find anyway when youre in that position of fame too.
MA: Yeah. Were all kind of calm, mellow guys. Were not fuckers really. All of us are in relationships and not looking to ruin anything.
MR: Do you have any religious or spiritual beliefs?
MA: No. Im actually baptized, and I was confirmed too, but that was one of the things you did, everybody did it. But I didnt have any beliefs. We went on this trip up to the North in Sweden, for confirmation, like this camp. We stayed there for a week and we read the Bible and we had to do our own prayers. But I brought my death metal album, I wasnt into that whole thing at all. It was just pretty much a theme because once you got in the front, you got a lot of gifts. My sister did it, I saw she got money and I was like yeah you know. All my friends did it, so I went there. But Ive never believed in anything, any religion at all.
MR: Do you have any comments on the political state of the world right now?
MA: Uhm, well, with all the wars, the war thats been going on here ..obviously Im trying to keep a low profile you understand. (inaudible) is wrong.
MR: Do you have any funny stories you can tell about your band mates?
MA: (points at Peter) He got a bottle in his head last night. (laughs) It was funny. We got a trash bin thrown on stage. But any band members, I cant really remember. There was something really bad that happened to our bass player, but I dont think hed ever forgive me if I tell it. I cant think of anything else right now.
MR: Out of all of your currently released records, which one is your favorite? And which one did you enjoy working on the most?
MA: The first one [Orchid] was enjoyable to record because it was short time, we were hungry, it was fun being in the recording studio for the first time. Damnation is probably my favorite record. My Arms Your Hearse is also another favorite of mine. Blackwater Park was fairly enjoyable to record. Deliverance has the most bad memories. I think all of them are good records. As far as favorites go, Damnation. My Arms Your Hearse, maybe Still Life?
MR: We know you just released Deliverance and Damnation, and we know we may be asking a hell of a lot right now, but how long until the next masterpiece?
MA: I think it might take a long time. Well be touring the whole year, and into the next year too. After this were going to have a long break, you know, do something else for a while. I cant see anything else coming until, maybe recording in 2004. No, 2005!
MR: What might we expect?
MA: I havent written anything.
MR: Do you want it to be like your previous stuff, or something kind of close to Damnation?
MA: I dont think it will be another record like Damnation, but I just havent written anything at all, so its hard to say.
MR: So were just all going to have to wait and be surprised.
MA: Yeah.
MR: Last question! Is there any message you would like to give all current Opeth fans, and new fans?
MA: For the fans that are already into Opeth, wed obviously like to thank [them] for their support for the band. I hope theyll stick around and I hope they find whatever we do in the future, they find it interesting. And we promise that well continue doing high quality music. Just hoping theyll stick around and wait for our next album whenever it is out. Come check us out on tour. Come see the band in July for the Damnation Tour. Since were not playing Damnation tonight. Well be doing that tour in July with Porcupine Tree here in the US to promote Damnation. Then we have another, longer tour in September. For the new fans - I dont know what to say. If youve just gotten into Opeth, you have a lot of stuff to check out. Seven albums. Heres hoping that the ones that get into the new album go back and check out the old ones and see where were coming from. Hopefully they will like that too.
MR: Thank you so much for talking to us. I cant wait for the show tonight!
MA: Thank you. (grins and shakes my hand)
There are no words to express how much The Metal Refuge appreciates the opportunity that Mikael, Opeth, their management and publicity people have honored us with. We also want to thank the die hard Opeth fans at the Refuge for contributing to this interview with suggestions for questions. The Refuge will continue to spread the word about Opeth in every way we can. ~AS
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